Environment vs. Jobs

There is a huge confusion or should I say conflict going on in this country which is do we save environment or do we save jobs. On the one hand saving the environment may save jobs but initially it will destroy jobs. This is the dilemma the people are facing. Helping the environment is not easy. Life style needs to be changed as well. Environmentalists worry more about what will happen to the nature while ignoring the facts that how the people are going to put food on the table. The people who have been working in a certain industry can’t just quit and retrain quickly to get another job. And the impact of saving the environment is long term. Since we (the human race) have destroyed the environment for such a long time, it will take an equally long time to at least restore the balance.

Then because this environment is so damaged all over the world that the developed world suddenly woke up to demand from the developing world to stop using chemicals harmful to the environment. Now the developing world refuses to do so since how will they be able to alleviate their citizenry from poverty if not by development. And a environmentally friendly development is not the way to go since it cost money and developing countries don’t have that. Even in the western world, the environmentalists are in conflict with people whose livelihood is threatened by laws that favor the nature rather than the people without having a viable alternative to make money.

Difference between Afghanistan and Iraq-6

Pakistanis have been suffering for a long time and they will continue to suffer as long as their leaders have this myopic view of having some influence in Afghanistan. There economy is in shambles and terrorist attacks are increasing in the country and their leaders are still having a dream of an Afghanistan that they will have influence over with so that they can concentrate on their eastern border with India. It is time that this kind of fantasy should be done with .Unless Pakistan stops supporting the Taliban and be serious about all kinds of Taliban (whether they are in favor of Pakistan or against Pakistan), the Afghanistan that the U.S. want will never happen.

U.S. wants an Afghanistan which does not harbor the Al-Qaeda or any terrorist organization on its soil and be at least friendly to the West and not be harassing its minorities. But this will not happen until the flow of arms from across the border with Pakistan is stopped and their support base in that country completely eliminated. It can be done, but only if the Pakistanis can see through beyond their myopic view of the region regarding India and concentrate in fixing up their country.

Difference between Afghanistan and Iraq-5

Maybe the top commanders of the Pakistan Army may not be undermining the efforts of the U.S. and NATO allies but some rogue elements and also some government officials secretly maybe helping the Taliban gain a foothold and create trouble for the allied forces, so that when they leave, it can an open field for them to install their government. But much has changed since 9/11 and also India has become a favorite and a very strong economic and military power allied with anybody except the Pakistanis. The Pakistanis are still in a state of denial regarding Afghanistan. The Taliban don’t care much about the Pakistanis anywhere, which they see as the puppet of the Americans.

If and when they think they will get their government (with the help of the Pakistanis) they will surely turned upon their benefactors since the so called victory will galvanize them to install their own harsh brand of Islam on the Northern Province and slowly on other parts (despite what the government says on the contrary).

You see I am not a military man but I analyze things they way they are not sugar coating them for the audience. The fact is that Taliban are winning because they can attack and retreat back to their safe havens in Pakistan (this is fact). As long as Pakistan is willingly or unwillingly playing a double game and hosting the Taliban on its soil. No amount of force can stop these people from gaining a foothold in Afghanistan.

Difference between Afghanistan and Iraq-4

Second, they (meaning the Pakhtuns) have special kinship/relations with their fellows Pakhtuns. The Pakhtuns in Pakistan do not differentiate with the Pakhtuns in Afghanistan and they have coming back and forth long before these boundaries between Pakistan and Afghanistan were made. Further there is an intense dislike for the northern people of Afghanistan since they treat them worse than non Muslims. Afghanistan can never be stabilized since Pakistan and India are vying for the influence in that country. Whatever the Pakistani Army is doing and sacrificing so many of its soldiers is just cleaning up what they created in the first place. There are still elements in the Pakistan Army (despite the best efforts of the commanders) that are actively supporting the Taliban and other elements to make sure that when the Western forces leave, they can install their own regime.

But this time, around no western or even the northern people will tolerate the excesses of the Taliban. They have suffered enough and I believe that if they don’t have help from Pakistan, they would have been defeated long ago. To be fair, Pakistan does have a genuine fear of being encircled by India from the east and an unfriendly regime to the west with Iran not so friendly to the west too. To the south it is just water. But the near obsession with the India has completely distorted the vision of the Pakistani leaders, blaming everything on India, Israel and the U.S. and not seeing their own shortcomings